Organizations or individual entrepreneurs with a non-cash payment system are often perplexed: “What is it: accounts receivable are getting larger every month, growing like a snowball?” Someone will say that this is good - products (services) are in demand, but with the calculation you can wait for some time. But do not delude yourself - basically, such an increase is a signal that the company will incur losses in the near future. Have you ever thought that some constant debtors are using you as a bank? Those funds that are not paid to you on time are free money for your clients. They direct them to other needs, they say, you can wait with payments (no one demands). What do credit institutions do in this case? Naturally, they are fined for late payment or interest is charged. So it’s time to understand what it is and how to reduce it, taking it under strict control!

Tips to help reduce accounts receivable

In principle, all “receivables” are divided into the following types: normal (the period between shipment (provision of services) and the settlement period under the contract); overdue (the amount was not received on the date specified in the contract) and hopeless (when there is no way to return the funds). And in order not to find yourself in the second and third situations, you must adhere to the following tips. Constant work with accounts receivable has several stages.

Why do you need a debt audit?

If managed correctly, constant monitoring of debts works effectively. Most clients tend to pay on time. In addition, it is advisable to check the status of accounts by conducting an audit of receivables and, based on its results, the weaknesses and strengths of the company’s activities are identified, and appropriate measures are proposed to improve its financial condition. The main steps are as follows:

1. Study of constituent documents,
2. Analysis of linking financial documentation with the terms of contracts and prices in force at that time.
3. Evaluation of settlement documents, comparison with reporting forms.
4. Determining the reliability of data in the balance sheet and its applications.
5. Development of recommendations.

In principle, the area of ​​​​working with receivables and payables requires only a well-functioning system of organization and control. Set your rules and then follow them.

Concept, classification of receivables and payables and basic principles of their accounting

Bad debts are those debts to the organization for which the statute of limitations has expired, as well as those debts for which the obligation has been terminated due to the impossibility of fulfilling it, or on the basis of an act of a government agency or liquidation.

Creditors can be various individuals and legal entities to whom the enterprise has debts (obligations) that are subject to payment (repayment).

Accounts payable is the debt of a given organization to other organizations, individual entrepreneurs, individuals, including its own employees, incurred in settlements for purchased inventories, works and services, in settlements with the budget, in settlements for wages, etc. .

We can say that accounts payable is one of the borrowed sources of covering current assets. Thus, accounts payable may arise if materials are received by an organization before it has paid for them.

For accounts payable to be recognized in accounting, the following conditions must be met: there must be a high probability of economic benefits (receipt or outflow) associated with the liability, and the cost of the liability can be measured reliably.

Accounts payable are classified depending on the content of the obligations, the duration and possibility of fulfilling the obligations. Types of accounts payable are presented in Figure 2.

According to the content of obligations, accounts payable can be associated with the acquisition of inventories, works, services (debt for purchased products, goods, works and services, including amounts for bills of exchange presented for payment) and not related to it (debt for settlements with the budget, debt to subsidiaries and dependent companies, to the personnel of the organization, to participants (founders) for the payment of income, other debt).

Rice. 2 - Classification of accounts payable

Regarding the division of accounts payable into long-term and short-term, the following should be noted. In a broad sense, accounts payable includes any debt an organization owes to anyone. In the composition of long-term debt in Fig. 1.2. refers to debt on long-term loans and borrowings. But it is known that loans and credits in Russian accounting and reporting are separated from accounts payable and classified as long-term and short-term liabilities. However, in many literary sources, from an economic and legal point of view, all types of borrowed and credit obligations are included in accounts payable.

If it is possible to fulfill obligations to creditors, debt can be divided into normal and overdue.

At the same time, two types of debt can be distinguished as part of overdue accounts payable: debt for which the statute of limitations has not expired, and unclaimed debt (with an expired statute of limitations).

To this classification, we can add that among the liabilities of any organization, we can also conditionally distinguish urgent debt (debt to the budget for wages, social insurance and security) and ordinary debt (liabilities to subsidiaries and dependent companies, advances received, bills payable, etc. creditors; debt to suppliers). This classification is often used in economic analysis.

Accounts receivable actually represent a component of the enterprise's own funds, and accounts payable actually represent a component of borrowed funds. The common feature of accounts payable and receivable is that they are based on the time gap between the goods transaction and its payment.

The basic rules for accounting for receivables and payables include: timely and complete identification of the organization’s debtors, reliable and reasonable reflection of receivables and payables in the accounting and reporting accounts, accounting for debt repayment and compliance with the rules for writing off bad debts of both types.

In accordance with the Accounting Regulations “Accounting Statements of an Organization” PBU 4/99 (hereinafter referred to as PBU 4/99), in the financial statements assets and liabilities must be presented with a division depending on the maturity period into short-term and long-term.

The composition of indicators in which receivables and payables should be presented in the financial statements is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 - Composition of types of receivables and payables in financial statements in accordance with PBU 4/99

The existing reporting forms of organizations reflect:

Information on accounts receivable and payable - in the Balance Sheet (form No. 1);

The balance of receivables and payables with a breakdown by type and maturity and data on the movement of types of debt (that is, the balance at the beginning and end of the year) - in the section “Receivables and payables” of the Appendix to the balance sheet (form No. 5).

The debit and credit balances identified for each counterparty constitute the enterprise's receivables and payables, respectively. When preparing financial statements, it is important to remember that the financial statements do not allow offsets between items of assets and liabilities.

The assessment of property and liabilities is carried out by the organization to reflect them in accounting and financial statements in monetary terms.

The amount of receivables is determined based on the price established by the agreement between the organization and the buyer (customer) or user of the organization's assets, taking into account discounts and markups.

The amount of accounts payable is determined from the price and conditions established by the agreement between the organization and the supplier (contractor) or other counterparty, taking into account discounts and markups.

Accounts receivable are reflected in accounting as the debit of accounts: 60 “Settlements with suppliers and contractors” (the organization issued an advance payment for the supply of goods); 62 “Settlements with buyers and customers” (delivery of goods, works, services for subsequent payment); 68 “Calculations for taxes and fees” (overpayment of taxes and fees to the budget); 69 “Calculations for social insurance and security” (overpayment in calculations for social insurance, pensions, etc.); 70 “Accounting for settlements with personnel for wages”; 71 “Settlements with accountable persons” (the accountable person did not return the funds issued to him); 73 “Settlements with personnel for other operations” (the occurrence of debt for compensation of material damage, etc.); 75 “Settlements with founders” (the occurrence of debt of founders on contributions to the authorized capital); 76 “Settlements with various debtors and creditors” (if there is a debt on claims in favor of the organization, on dividends due, on compensation for damage due to an insured event).

Accounts payable are reflected in the credit accounts: 60 “Settlements with suppliers and contractors” (purchase of goods, works, services); 62 “Settlements with buyers and customers” (the organization received an advance payment for the supply of goods); 68 “Calculations for taxes and fees” (debt to the budget of taxes, fees); 69 “Calculations for social insurance and security” (debt to state extra-budgetary funds); 70 “Accounting for settlements with personnel for wages” and others.

One of the necessary means for accounting for receivables and payables is inventory. It is necessary to ensure the reliability of accounting and reporting data and allows you to identify the balances of receivables and payables.

An inventory of settlements with banks and other credit institutions for loans, with the budget, buyers, suppliers, accountable persons, employees, depositors, other debtors and creditors consists of checking the validity of the amounts listed in the accounting accounts.

The procedure and timing of the inventory is determined by the head of the organization, except for cases when the inventory is mandatory.

The inventory is carried out in accordance with the Guidelines for the inventory of property and financial obligations. The basis for its implementation is the order of the head in the unified form No. INV-22. Before starting the inventory, the accounting department must draw up a certificate about the remaining amounts in the accounts of settlements with debtors and creditors (attachment to form No. INV-17). The results of the inventory are documented in an act in form No. INV-17. It reflects the balances identified from the documents, which are listed on the relevant accounts, highlighting amounts with an expired statute of limitations for each counterparty.

The resulting debt (accounts payable and receivable) can be terminated by the fulfillment of obligations either by the debtor personally or by a third party on his behalf. Operations to repay debt personally by the debtor through direct payment are reflected in accounting as follows:

Buyer's receivables D51 K62 repaid

Accounts payable to supplier D60 K51 repaid

Typically, payments on current obligations are repaid not in cash, but by transferring funds through banking organizations. The use of one or another form of payment is provided for in the agreement between the parties (supplier and buyer), except for cases where the rules of the bank establish mandatory forms of payment. Repayment of debt using funds received through mutual settlements.

One of the most common ways to terminate receivables is an assignment agreement (assignment agreement).

An assignment agreement is an agreement to replace the former creditor (assignor), who withdraws from the obligation, with another entity (assignee), to whom the rights of the former creditor are transferred.

When selling receivables under an assignment agreement, the following entries are made in the accounting records of the assignor (conditional figures):

An agreement was concluded on the assignment of the right to claim D 76 K9rub.

Accounts receivable D91-2 K6rub were written off from the balance sheet.

The loss from the sale of debt D 99 K 91-9 was determined to be 500 rubles.

Received funds under assignment agreement D51 K76 - 10,000 rubles.

In this case, the parties to the assignment agreement are obliged to notify the debtor of the assignment. The debtor company makes the following entries:

The replacement of the creditor after receiving notice D 60 K 60 is reflected.

The transferee organization's acquired receivables will be reflected in account 58, since, according to the Accounting Regulations “Accounting for Financial Investments” PBU 19/02: “3. The financial investments of the organization include:... accounts receivable acquired on the basis of assignment of the right of claim...”.

Amounts of bad receivables and unclaimed accounts payable are subject to write-off. Accounts receivable are written off to reduce profits (as other expenses) or reserve for doubtful debts. Accounts payable upon expiration of the limitation period are also written off to financial results. The basis for writing off debts of both types after the expiration of the statute of limitations are written justifications, an inventory act and an order from the head of the organization to write off the debt.

Thus, accounts receivable are the debt of other persons to a given organization, the reflection of which in the financial statements is expressed as the property of the organization, and accounts payable are characterized by the amount of debts due for payment in favor of other persons.

The principles of accounting for accounts receivable and accounts payable are regulated by such regulatory documents on accounting and reporting as the Federal Law “On Accounting”, Regulations on Accounting and Financial Reporting in the Russian Federation No. 34 n, Chart of Accounts for the financial and economic activities of an organization , Accounting provisions - PBU 4/99 “Accounting statements of an organization”, PBU 9/99 “Income of an organization”, PBU 10/99 “Income of an organization” and other documents.

List of used regulatory documents

1. Tax Code of the Russian Federation

2.Civil Code of the Russian Federation

3.Federal Law of January 1, 2001 N 129-FZ “On Accounting”

4. Regulations on maintaining accounting and financial statements in the Russian Federation / approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on July 29, 1998 No. 34 n

5. Accounting regulations “Accounting statements of an organization” PBU 4/99 (approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 6, 1999 N 43n)

6.Regulations on accounting “Income of the organization” PBU 9/99 (approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 1999 N 32n)

7.Regulations on accounting “Expenses of the organization” PBU 10/99 (approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated May 6, 1999 N 33n

8. Chart of accounts for accounting of financial and economic activities of the organization and Instructions for its application / Approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on October 31, 2000 No. 94n

9. Guidelines for inventory of property and financial obligations / Approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation on June 13, 1995 No. 49

Accounts receivable iscompany money that has not yet been given to her. Increaseaccounts receivablecan be regarded as increasing the growth rate of the company, the main thing is that debtors repay their debts on time, then there will be no problems with repaying their own debt to creditors.

The difference between the concepts of accounts receivable and accounts payable

Accounts payable is the opposite of accounts receivable. Here we are talking about the company’s own debt, which it must pay by a certain date. The concepts of accounts receivable and accounts payable do not always carry a negative connotation of the word “debt”. Often these are just accepted but not yet fulfilled obligations.

For accounts payable to arise, it is not necessary to take out a loan from a bank, but for accounts receivable to arise, it is not necessary to lend money. You can only conclude a supply agreement, in which payments are made a month after receipt of the goods. And throughout this month, the buyer will have accounts payable, i.e., an obligation to pay under the contract.

At the same time, the supplier will have receivables and will expect payments for the goods delivered within a month. This example shows that two parties to the transaction have different types of debt in relation to one obligation. And until the deadline for fulfilling the obligation comes, both parties perceive this state of affairs as a normal working relationship.

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Overdue accounts payable is a problem

The obligation is limited by the period of its fulfillment. Of course, there are open-ended obligations, the fulfillment of which occurs after the presentation of the demand. But this also has its own deadlines; such an obligation may be subject to instant execution or within, for example, three months from the date of receipt of the request. So it is always possible to determine when the obligation must be fulfilled and thereby repay the receivables. This gives rise to the classification of receivables into two types:

• Normal accounts receivable;
• Overdue accounts receivable.

Once the obligation is due, normal receivables become overdue receivables. And here you need to take action. Therefore, it is important for the company to organize work to track accounts receivable. You need to clearly know when a particular obligation is due for repayment.

It would be a good idea to monitor the financial condition of the debtor in order to detect problematic receivables in time. You can learn in advance that the obligation may not be fulfilled. If the debtor is on the verge of bankruptcy, the chances that the receivables will be paid are slim. In such situations, you need to record the outstanding receivables as soon as possible. Immediately after the deadline for fulfilling the obligation, begin work to collect it in court. Then, already having a court decision in hand, it will be possible to enter into bankruptcy proceedings as a creditor and receive at least partial compensation for accounts receivable.

Liability for malicious evasion of repayment of accounts payable

It is possible to say that the creditor does not want to fulfill his obligations only after the date of fulfillment of the obligation has arrived. Then the receivables become overdue, and you can begin to use methods of inducement and even coercion to fulfill the obligation. The creditor, in order to solve the problem of overdue accounts receivable, can take the following path.

The threat of criminal prosecution forces many debtors to pay their bills.

The emergence of accounts receivable from one person will certainly lead to the emergence of accounts payable from his counterparty. After fulfilling the obligation in full, both debts are considered repaid. But if the debtor cannot repay the debt, then the creditor has the right to use all the methods provided by law and the contract to receive money against the receivables.

Are you faced with the question: what is accounts receivable? In this article we will try to describe this concept as simply and completely as possible. Any organization sooner or later faces accounts receivable.

Accounts receivable is the amount of debt (debt) owed to an organization by customers or other debtors, which the organization expects to receive within certain (established or agreed upon) periods.

The debtor, in turn, is the debtor of the organization. Both legal entities and individuals can act as debtors.

Accounts receivable is a type of asset of an organization; to the extent that these funds are not directly at the disposal of the enterprise, accounts receivable negatively affects the financial position of the organization. Therefore, it is very important to control its size and demand repayment of debts from unscrupulous partners. But at the same time, if accounts receivable are managed correctly, then by providing deferred payments and trade credits, an organization can expand the market for its products or services.

Accounts receivable can arise for various reasons, both dependent on the organization (for example, providing trade credit or deferred payment to customers) and independent. The most common reason for the appearance of receivables that do not depend on the organization is unscrupulous partners.

We found out what accounts receivable means. Now let's talk about what is included in accounts receivable:

• Debt of buyers and customers for goods shipped or services performed.
• Advances paid to suppliers and contractors.
• Accountable amounts issued to accountable persons for various needs (for example, the purchase of materials).
• Debts on loans and advances issued, for example, to employees of an organization.

Of course, the most common type of receivables are the debts of buyers and customers for goods shipped to them, raw materials and services provided.

Types of accounts receivable

• Accounts receivable from customers and buyers whose payment is not yet due.
• Overdue receivables are debts that are not paid on time, that is, within the period stipulated by the contract. In turn, it comes in the following types:

• Expected, the terms for repayment of debts are agreed upon with the buyer, a letter of guarantee or other types of guarantees may be provided.
• Doubtful, the probability of debt repayment is low, the debt is not secured by collateral or surety.
• Hopeless, debt repayment is not possible.

According to the terms of repayment, receivables in financial statements are divided into the following categories:

• Long-term, debt repayment is expected within more than 12 months after the reporting date.
• Short-term, debt repayment will be made within 1 year after the reporting date.

When analyzing accounts receivable, a very important indicator is the turnover of accounts receivable; the higher this indicator, the better for the organization. This ratio shows how much revenue falls on each ruble of accounts receivable and is calculated using the formula:

• RTR = TR/ Average remote sensing, where:
  • RTR – accounts receivable turnover ratio (RTR)
  • TR is revenue; in addition, it is appropriate to take not total revenue, but sales on credit.

Another useful indicator is the debt turnover in days; it shows how long it takes on average for the money to be returned, and the lower it is, the faster the receivables are returned. It can be found using the formula:

• DSO = T/ RTR, where:
  • T – period of time for which the analysis is carried out, in days.

It is very important to monitor these indicators and reduce the receivables turnover period.

One of the options for repaying accounts receivable is through accounts payable, or, more simply put, offset. This is possible if the organization also owes its debtor a certain amount of money for the services provided to it. In this case, for the organization it will be accounts payable, that is, debt to suppliers or contractors for services rendered or goods shipped. By mutual agreement, debt amounts can be offset.

Now you know what accounts receivable and payable are; you will learn how to write off overdue accounts receivable from another article on our website - “

Accounting accounts receivable refers to the total debt that is owed to an enterprise from individuals and legal entities. However, behind this definition, it still remains a mystery to many what accounts receivable is. Therefore, in this article I will try to give a broad vision of this category of accounting.

Concept and definition of accounts receivable

Nowadays, almost no enterprise operates without accounts receivable, because its formation occurs:

• for the debtor - due to the ability to use free additional fixed assets;
• for the lender - due to an increase in the sales market for services and goods.

The funds that form this debt from the organization are extracted from the economic turnover, which is not a plus in terms of the financial solvency of the enterprise. An increase in accounts receivable can lead an entity to financial collapse or bankruptcy (see also:). In this regard, accounting must ensure timely collection of those funds that constitute receivables.

Categories of receivables

The excess of accounts receivable over accounts payable is one of the conditions for the financial stability of an enterprise.

So, debit debt is the property claims of one enterprise to an individual or legal entity acting as its debtors. Thus, debt is part of the working capital of the enterprise.

Debtor. debt is conventionally divided into overdue and normal debt.

1. Normal receivables are the debts of agents for shipped goods, works and services for which the payment period has not yet arrived, but the transfer of ownership to the new owner has taken place; if an advance payment was made to suppliers, performers or contractors for the delivery of goods.
2. Overdue debt is called debt for work or services, goods, which was not paid within the agreed period.

Overdue debt is divided into doubtful and hopeless.

• Doubtful debt is every debt arising to the taxpayer, which arises due to the sale of goods, performance of work, when this debt is not repaid within the period established in the agreement, and is not secured by a pledge, bank guarantee or surety.
• After the end of the limitation period, the doubtful debt develops into a bad debt, which is unrealistic for collection. Such an unpleasant situation may arise as a result of the fact that the debtor was liquidated or became bankrupt, if the statute of limitations has expired and the debt has not been confirmed by the debtor, if there are funds in “problem accounts” in banks, and also if it is impossible to collect through legal bailiff - executor in accordance with a court decision in the amount of the debt (if the enterprise and its property are at the disposal of the operational management).

Based on the length of the repayment period of receivables, they are divided into groups:

• short-term (when debt repayment occurs within a year after the reporting date);
• long-term (when repayment will occur no earlier than a year after the reporting date)

Write-off of accounts receivable

In order to prevent distortion of accounting information, as well as to ensure the financial stability of the enterprise, it is necessary to collect the debt. First, the required amount is claimed through a claim, after which the collection of commercial debts is carried out through the court.

Each enterprise must monitor and analyze accounts receivable, record them, and then reconcile settlements. When the amount of partnership debts is discovered, it is presented to the debtor before claiming it. When, during the limitation period, the debt is not collected or the debtor is liquidated, the enterprise writes off this debt.

An enterprise may create a reserve of doubtful debts while waiting for the rehabilitation of the borrower's solvency. When a debt is written off at a loss to an enterprise due to the debtor's insolvency, the debt itself is not annulled. This debt should remain on the balance sheet for another five years from the date of its write-off in order to monitor the likelihood of its collection in case the economic situation of the debtor changes.

The debit debt must be inventoried. As a result of the inventory, doubtful accounts receivable and debts that are unrealistic to be collected are identified, as well as overdue accounts receivable and the limitation period for each obligation.

Initially, in order to determine the position of the receivables, it is necessary to assess the level and composition of the company’s receivables, plus the effectiveness of the financial resources invested in it.

It is necessary to assess the degree of debt, as well as the dynamics of its changes in the previous period. This assessment will be made possible by the coefficient of diversion of fixed assets towards debt indebtedness using the formula:

To deb. ass = Accounts receivable/fixed assets

The formula means that the lower this ratio is, the higher the financial stability of the enterprise.

The following indicators are used in the assessment: coefficient of overdue debt:

Overdue debt ratio = overdue debt debit/deb. debt

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This coefficient serves to characterize the quality of debt, and its value shows a decrease in the liquidity of the enterprise, as well as an increase in risks.